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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Identification and Creation

Object Number
2013.57
People
Ogawa Haritsu, Japanese (Ise 1663 - 1747)
Title
Courtesan Eguchi as the Bodhisattva Fugen with a White Elephant
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting, hanging scroll
Date
18th century
Places
Creation Place: East Asia, Japan
Period
Edo period, 1615-1868
Culture
Japanese
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/211588

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Hanging scroll; ink, color and gold on silk; with artist's signature and seal
Dimensions
painting proper: H. 92.1 x W. 35.7 cm (36 1/4 x 14 1/16 in.)
mounting, inlcuding suspension core and roller ends: H. 181.6 x W. 54.8 cm (71 1/2 x 21 9/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: lower right edge of painting:: Muchū-an Ritsuō kore o egaku
  • seal: lower right edge of painting, following signature: square red intaglio artist's seal

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Louis V. Ledoux Collection, New York (by 1948), by descent; to his son L. Pierre Ledoux, New York (1948-2001), by inheritance; to his widow Joan F. Ledoux, New York, (2001-2013), gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2013.

Footnotes:
1. Louis V. Ledoux (1880-1948)
2. L. Pierre Ledoux (1912-2001)
3. On long term loan to Harvard Art Museums from 1981 to 2013.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, The Louis V. Ledoux Collection; Gift of Mrs. L. Pierre Ledoux in memory of her husband
Accession Year
2013
Object Number
2013.57
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
A beautiful woman clothed in a sumptuously decorated blue, white, and gold kimono stands grasping a thin staff in both hands while swirling bands of white clouds trail behind her, gather beneath her feet, and take on the form of a white elephant; beneath these ethereal figures appears an expanse of pale blue waves. The subject of this exquisite painting derives from a fifteenth-century Noh play about a courtesan believed to be a manifestation of Fugen Bosatsu (Sanskrit, Bodhisattva Samantabhadra), a Buddhist deity described in the Lotus Sutra as accompanying the Historical Buddha Shakyamuni and typically depicted in Buddhist art as holding a staff and riding a white elephant. The imagery here is perfectly complemented by a dark blue and white silk mounting painted to echo the swirling clouds and flowing waves in the painted scene. The signature and seal of artist Ogawa Haritsu (1663-1747) appears in the lower right corner of the composition.

Publication History

  • Julia Meech, "Louis V. Ledoux: Collector of Japanese Textiles", Impressions, Japanese Art Society of America (Lexington, 2022), No. 43: part one of double issue, pp. 99-128, pp. 107-108, fig. 8

Exhibition History

  • Masterworks of Ukiyo-e, Harvard University Art Museums, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Cambridge, 07/20/1996 - 01/12/1997
  • 32Q: 2740 Buddhist II, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/29/2021 - 07/17/2022

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu